how cute is crawling?

Here is video of some early crawling moments. I can't tell you how many times I've heard "If you think it's hard now, wait till they can move." I can't disagree more. Crawling in our household is the best thing since peanut butter. That's right kiddo - now you can go get that toy for yourself. Doesn't hurt that it's so darn cute, either.

barcelona, wow!

We took a side trip to Barcelona before returning home from Paris. Guell Park, Catalonian food, Picasso, Gaudi, Miro. Wonderful. It was rainy but the people made up for it. Everyone loved babies (in both Paris and Barcelona) and we were treated well everywhere we went. Our last night we took Samuel to the Parade for the Three Kings. He was mesmerized.

paris for christmas

Tom and Susan brought all of their kids and spouses on an amazing trip to Paris this winter for their anniversary. A free trip to Europe - need I say more? Thanks Tom and Susan.

It was also great that the European branch of the family could join us there. It was wonderful to see Francis, Teddy, Nik and Nicola

thanksgiving new york 2007

Samuel's first Thanksgiving. One of the great things about having a child who doesn't sleep (can there be anything great about having a child that doesn't sleep?) is that going on vacation doesn't make a difference, cuz they certainly can't sleep any WORSE. I mean, once you are already getting woken up every hour or two, can you really go down hill from there?

So the trip went off without a hitch and it was great to see Steve's fam.

first solids

This is a video of Samuel's first solid feeding. Not long after this we decided to not feed Samuel ourselves, but use the concept of "baby led solids." We didn't mash up food, or feed him with a spoon, but offered him soft vegetables that he could try to eat on his own. The idea is that developmentally he wouldn't be able to put anything in his mouth that was small enough to choke on, until he was ready to swallow it.

pumpkin pie anyone?

The pictures say it all. Halloween at Microsoft.

why didn't steve stop me?

It is well known among people who know me that I have very big ideas. This can be a good thing. However, sometimes I need Steve to help me pare down my big ideas into something more manageable; he helps me with moderation. So it was his job, when we talked about our first major trip with Samuel, to keep perspective.

For instance, when we started talking about going to Maneesha's wedding in Detroit and I mentioned that we should visit his parents, Steve probably should have proceeded with caution. When I suggested that we stop in Chicago along the way perhaps alarm bells should have sounded. Then I dreamed up the idea of flying into Minneapolis for a few days, flying to Chicago, staying two nights, renting a car, driving to Detroit, doing a pit stop to reminisce in Ann Arbor, staying two nights in Detroit, go to the wedding, turn around and get back in the car to return to the Chicago airport and fly home.

What?!?! With a 5 month old who had never been on an extended trip before? I'd say what was I thinking, but we know what I was thinking - it seemed like a good idea at the time, and so efficient! The real question is, what was Steve thinking? I mean really, it's his job to keep me in check.

It all worked out in the end. Samuel got to visit Grandma Susan and Grandpa Tom for the first time, we saw Ben and Jill in Chicago and stayed in a nice hotel, Steve was pleased we were able to make it to Maneesha's wedding, and the only tough part was the drive from Chicago to Detroit and back again. That was fairly hellish. Samuel screamed almost the entire way there and back.